– UNWGEID extended Official Speech to Saudi Arabia on Continued Arrests of Qatari Nationals

– Saudi Arabia’s intransigence and continued arbitrary arrests refutes its claims to welcome Qataris and residents

– Continued violations confirm that Saudi Arabia is unsafe for Qatari citizens

– Riyadh obstructs and prevents the entry of Qataris to KSA .. a very few were allowed to enter under certain security exceptions, and most of them were arrested later

– Submit a documented file of the names and details of the suffering of Qataris forcibly and arbitrarily detained to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Working Groups on Enforced Disappearance and Arbitrary Detention

– Al-Marri briefed officials of UNWGEID on the health status of some of the detainees

Geneva: Tuesday 17 September 2019

Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee, revealed that representatives of the families of arbitrarily detained Qatari nationals and victims of enforced disappearance in Saudi Arabia will soon testify before the European Parliament, the Human Rights Council and relevant international bodies.

Dr. Al Marri stressed that the NHRC will submit comprehensive and documented files to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID), on the continuation of Saudi violations that have affected even the few Qatari citizens who were allowed to enter Saudi Arabia with security clearances before being arrested. Al Marri pointed out that the UN working group had sent an official letter to Saudi Arabia because of its continued arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearance of Qatari citizens.

Informing the UN working group of the health status of arbitrarily detained Qataris

This came during a meeting with Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on the occasion of his visit to Geneva. During the meeting, Dr. Ali bin Smaikh briefed the latest developments of the blockade crisis and the humanitarian repercussions of Saudi Arabia’s continued violations of the rights of citizens and residents of Qatar resulting from the blockade since 5 June 2017.
Al-Marri appreciated the interaction of the Working Group on Enforced Disappearance and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention with the letters of the National Human Rights Committee, where they addressed letters to Saudi Arabia, demanding that it immediately stop its violations, disclose the whereabouts of detained Qataris in Saudi Arabia, and release them. Al Marri also briefed officials on the health situation of some detainees arbitrarily.

Riyadh reverted to its arbitrary approach

Dr. Al-Marri made an urgent appeal to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, calling for concrete and strong steps to end the continuing Saudi violations against Qatari citizens, as Saudi authorities continue to detain Qatari nationals without legal justification. “After the release of Qatari nationals in recent months, we expected the Saudi authorities to stop its serious human rights violations, but we were shocked that KSA reverted to its arbitrary approach and detention of Qatari citizens who were victims of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention, without any legal explanations or justification for their detention. Riyadh obstructs and prevents the entry of Qataris to KSA; a very few were allowed to enter under certain security exceptions, and most of them were arrested later, without revealing their whereabouts so far.
Al Marri continued: “We at the National Human Rights Committee continue to defend the victims of Saudi violations, and we are in contact with the families of the Qatari families who have been subjected to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, and we will spare no effort to hold them fully responsible for the safety of Those Qatari nationals who are supposed to have entered Saudi territory with security clearances, including citizens with properties in Saudi territory.
Dr. Al Marri added: “These arrests unequivocally prove that the Saudi authorities have continued their repressive practices against Qatari citizens, especially against the mixed families of the citizens of both countries, which increases the suffering of those families. ”

Continued arrests refute false Saudi allegations

The continued violations by the Saudi authorities, including arbitrary arrests and forced detention of Qatari nationals, refute all the false allegations and news spread by Saudi officials and the Saudi media, and their allegations that Qatari citizens are welcomed in the Kingdom. It proves once again the fears of Qatari citizens to enter Saudi Arabia, whether to perform Hajj and Umrah.

September 14, 2019

A delegation of senior researchers and politicians representing a number of political and intellectual research centers in the United States visited the headquarters of the National Human Rights Committee and was received by Dr. Mohammed bin Saif Al-Kuwari, Vice-Chairman of the Committee and Mr. Sultan bin Hassan Al-Jamali, Assistant Secretary General along with the directors of the Committee’s departments.

The delegation’s visit was aimed at encouraging national human rights institutions, NGOs and community-based organizations and provide support and assistance to people whose rights may be violated. The meeting discussed with the delegation of senior researchers and politicians the role of the press and media in providing support to most vulnerable groups, including workers, as well as the role of the National Human Rights Committee in spreading the culture of human rights and methods of work in receiving complaints and facilities provided by the Committee to complainants, through direct attendance To the Committee’s headquarters, through the community offices established by the Committee at its headquarters, or via the hotlines or the official website of the Committee, as well as its role in addressing human rights violations resulting from the blockade.

At a time when the National Human Rights Committee and international organizations were hoping that the Saudi authorities would resolve the humanitarian crisis, lift the violations and compensate the victims of the blockade, the Saudi authorities issued a statement broadcasted by the Saudi press agency on September 7, 2019, to mislead public opinion and provide pretexts to justify violations, unilateral sanctions and arbitrary measures, and claim that they have addressed the violations resulting from the blockade.

The Saudi authorities are once again making an unsuccessful attempt to deceive public opinion and the international community by giving misleading statistics and figures to cover up their violations against citizens and residents of the State of Qatar.

Using policies to conceal the facts will not benefit the Saudi authorities and will not protect them from condemnations and demands to compensate the victims and to stop violating their rights.

Since the beginning of the blockade, the National Human Rights Committee has addressed the relevant human rights bodies in Saudi Arabia with the aim to eliminate the damages affecting the rights of the victims and preventing them from obtaining justice.

However, the NHRC has not received any response. Furthermore, the Saudi authorities did not allow the technical mission of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit the Saudi Arabia in November 2017 to evaluate the impact of the measures taken on human rights. In addition, there has been no response from the Saudi authorities to the communications addressed to Saudi Arabia from the UN special rapporteurs and international organizations.

Moreover, the report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights to the 42nd session of the Human Rights Council held from 9 to 27 September 2019, affirmed in paragraph 38 that “The restrictive measures imposed by various Gulf countries on Qatar remain in force.”

The unilateral measures and sanctions imposed on the State of Qatar constitute a full-fledged blockade against citizens and residents of the State of Qatar, which in turn constitutes a flagrant violation of all international human rights conventions and norms, and this cannot be justified under any pretext, according to the international reports. The majority of violations by the Saudi authorities are documented by the United Nations bodies, international organisations and some specialized international institutions.

From this perspective, The National Human Rights Committee affirms that it shall continue to provide these organisations with all the required data and documents. On the other hand, the Saudi authorities should take the following actions, if their claims are founded:

First:
to allow the UN-OHCHR technical mission to visit Saudi Arabia to evaluate the impact of violations resulting from coercive measures taken.

Second:
to approve the establishment of a fact-finding committee by the Human Rights Council to visit Saudi Arabia to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding the human rights violations resulting from the blockade.

Third:
to recognize the competence of the International Court of Justice in accordance with article 22 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to consider its claims that there are no human rights violations resulting from the blockade.

From this rostrum, The NHRC notes that respect for human rights should begin with the recognition of the role of international protection and accountability mechanisms, rather than simply claiming through statements to decisive and mislead international opinion.

We are concerned about the blockade and forced disappearance of Qatari citizens

The Gulf peoples are subjected to arrests solely for their sympathy for the State of Qatar

Forcibly disappeared people are at increased risk of abuses that amount to murder

The celebration of the International Day must be a human rights demonstration to hold those involved in forced disappearance to account

Doha: 30 August 2019

Dr. Mohammed bin Saif Al-Kuwari, Vice-President of the National Human Rights Committee, said that the practice of enforced disappearance constitutes a crime against humanity as defined in international law and that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or the threat of war, internal political instability or any other situation may be invoked as reason to justify enforced disappearance.

Al-Kuwari said in a press statement on the occasion of the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance: “The international community in the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance has resolved to prevent enforced disappearances and combat impunity for the perpetrators of enforced disappearance. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed an unjust blockade on the State of Qatar and its citizens and residents on its territory, pointing out that many citizens in the Gulf region have become targets to enforced disappearance, especially human rights activists and many of them have retained their views for fear of being subjected to enforced disappearance or arbitrary detention, especially under the law enacted by the blockading countries, which criminalize expressing sympathy With the State of Qatar. Al Kuwari pointed out that about two weeks ago, the National Human Rights Committee in the State of Qatar has received confirmed information from reliable sources regarding the enforced disappearance of Qatari national Ali Nasser Ali Jarallah, aged 70, and his son Abdul Hadi, aged 17, in Saudi Arabia. who entered Saudi Arabia under a family permit on Thursday, 15 August 2019.
According to information received by the National Human Rights committee, they were forcibly disappeared on Sunday, August 18, 2019, at 1:00 pm, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, where they were arrested by the Saudi authorities and hidden to an unknown location.
Al-Kuwari added: The blockading countries have always fabricated false pretexts to detain Qatari citizens in violation of all international conventions, instruments and norms of human rights, pointing out that reports from international organizations indicate that victims of enforced disappearance include all races, including children, but the vast majority are men, and that disappeared persons are at high risk of torture because they are absolutely isolated from the protection of the law, without any possibility of obtaining legal defense; they are also at increased risk of other human rights violations amounting to murder.

Al-Kuwari noted that the preamble to the Convention for the Protection of Persons from Enforced Disappearance took into account the right of everyone not to be subjected to enforced disappearance, the right of victims to justice and compensation, and the right of every victim to know the truth about the circumstances of enforced disappearance and to know the fate of the disappeared person, as well as his or her right. Freedom to collect, receive and disseminate information to this end. It called on all States parties to take appropriate measures to investigate the protection of persons from being subjected to enforced disappearances by persons or groups of individuals and to bring to justice those responsible for such violations. In addition, measures should be taken to make enforced disappearance a crime in its criminal law. Noting that on 14 and 15 April 2019, the National Human Rights Committee organized the International Conference on National, Regional and International Mechanisms to Combat Impunity and Ensure Accountability under International Law, in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Parliament and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, Its main objective was to develop a real and practical vision by a range of international policymakers and experts to seriously and effectively hold perpetrators of abuses around the world accountable for impunity, pointing out that the recommendations of the conference were a real beginning of a long path towards achieving the rule of law and impunity, and a strong start with hope for finding practical solutions to redress victims and reparations.

“The international community has been keen to protect people from enforced disappearance through an integrated international convention, but there are still those who are trying to evade international law in flagrant violation of human rights,” Al Kuwari said. This event should be an occasion to remind all States of their international obligations in this regard. In the 1992 Declaration of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance, the UN General Assembly affirmed that it was necessary to prevent enforced disappearances; to ensure strict adherence to a set of principles relating to the protection of the rights of persons subjected to any form of detention or imprisonment and to the principles of effective prevention and investigation of executions. Al Kuwari said: “We demand, as stated in the Declaration, that accurate information be provided on the detention of Qatari citizens, and that such information be made available to the families of the victims, their lawyers or any other person with a legitimate interest in receiving this information. We also call on the occasion of the International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearance to provide appropriate compensation to the victims of these cases, Qatari citizens and their families, including the means to ensure their full rehabilitation.

The National Human Rights Committee welcomes the decision of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva to declare the admissibility of the two complaints filed by the State of Qatar against the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia about the discriminatory measures imposed on Qatari citizens since June 2017, and the continuing grave violations of the rights of citizens and residents of Qatar. These complaints were submitted in accordance with Articles (11), (12) and (13) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination adopted in 1965.

Expressing its utmost satisfaction with this decision, the National Human Rights Committee considers this decision an important step towards the recognition by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that violations against citizens and residents of the State of Qatar fall within the scope of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Additionally, the decision proves beyond any doubt that the violations and collective punishments imposed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia constitute a criminal offence pursuant to the Convention.

This historic decision come to refute allegations, media misconceptions and statements of officials of those countries. The decision is also considered a preliminary victory for the victims, preceding the forthcoming CERD’s decision to condemn the discriminatory measures that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have continued to practice against citizens and residents of Qatar.

The National Human Rights Committee considers the decision to declare the admissibility of the complaints in terms of form as an important achievement, as well as a step towards redressing and compensating the victims for violations and damages resulting from the unjust blockade.

The National Human Rights Committee stresses that, despite all global efforts to combat racial discrimination, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia continue to be intransigent and defy international laws and conventions by taking punitive measures that constitute offences of racial discrimination against citizens and residents of Qatar. Indeed, such practices have become an established approach to their policy and international relations.

The decision by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is considered a strong indictment, that has joined previous indictments against the United Arab Emirates, such as the report of the OHCHR technical mission to the state of Qatar issued in December 2017, the order of the International Court of Justice of 23 July 2018 on the request for the indication of provisional measures, European Parliament resolutions, and the reports of both international organizations and the National Human Rights Committee of the State of Qatar.

The National Human Rights Committee looks forward to a decision by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in the coming months, to condemn definitively and decisively the discriminatory and racist actions taken by these states against citizens and residents of Qatar.

The National Human Rights Committee concludes by reaffirming its determination to defend the rights of victims, who have suffered since the beginning of the blockade imposed by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Thursday, 28 Dhu al-Hijjah 1440
29 August 2019
Doha, Qatar

Doha: 21 August 2019

Dr. Ali bin Smaikh Al Marri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee, met at his office with a delegation from the US Embassy in Qatar, including Mr. William Grant, Acting Chargé d’affaires, Ms. Marjon Kamrani, Political Officer at the Embassy, and Mr. Ihab Mikhail, Political Affairs Specialist. The meeting discussed ways of cooperation in issues of common concern and activating mechanisms of exchange of experiences and best practices between the two sides related to human rights issues.

The National Human Rights Committee has learned from credible resources that the 70-year-old Qatari citizen Ali Nasser Ali Jarallah and his 17-year-old son Abdulhadi have entered KSA under a family permit on Thursday, August 15, 2019, and that they forcibly disappeared since Sunday, August 18, 2019, at 1 pm, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, after they were arrested by the Saudi authorities and kept in an undisclosed location.

The National Human Rights Committee condemns the enforced disappearance of the Qatari citizen and his son, which violates their rights to liberty and security in addition to all international and regional instruments, especially Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 14 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights.

The National Human Rights Committee expresses its concern about the enforced disappearance of the Qatari citizens, especially as the Saudi authorities have recently pursued a policy of enforced disappearance of a number of Qatari citizens due to the political crisis.

The National Human Rights committee holds Saudi Arabia fully responsible for the life, physical integrity and safety of the Qatari citizen Ali Nasser Ali Jarallah and his son Abdulhadi, and calls upon the Saudi authorities to disclose their fate and release them immediately.

The National Human Rights Committee urgently calls on the High Commissioner for Human Rights, The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Human Rights Council to intervene immediately to stop these systematic and gross violations against Qatari citizens.

The National Human Rights Committee received from reliable sources information indicating that the health situation of the Qatari student Abdel Aziz Said Abdullah, detained arbitrarily in the prisons of Saudi Arabia, has deteriorated due to the adverse conditions of his arbitrary detention and willful negligence he has been subjected to.

It is worth mentioning that the Qatari student has forcibly disappeared since July 6, 2018, before the Saudi authorities announced his whereabouts last May to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

According to the source, the Qatari student is placed in solitary confinement since the date of his arrest and is subjected to torture to force him to confess to acts he did not commit.

The NHRC expressed its concern about information indicating that his health has recently deteriorated due to the willful negligence he has been subjected to, without being examined by a doctor or taken to the hospital to be provided with health care and treatment.

The NHRC condemns the arbitrary detention of Abdel Aziz, which violates international laws and conventions, especially article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The NHRC holds the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fully responsible for the life of the Qatari student Abdul Aziz Saeed Abdullah and his health and physical integrity, and calls on the Saudi Authorities to release him immediately.

The NHRC calls on the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Human Rights Council to intervene to stop these grave violations, and hold accountable those responsible for these violations, and immediately release the Qatari student Abdel Aziz Said Abdullah.

The National Human Rights Committee of Qatar welcomes the release of the Qatari citizen Mohsen Saleh Saadoun Al-Karbi, who was denied the most basic rights to communicate with his family or his lawyer while he has been forcibly disappeared in Saudi Arabia since 21 April 2018, during which his family failed to locate his place of detention or know the charge against him.

The National Human Rights Committee was in constant contact with United Nations bodies, international organizations and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, and has been demanding that Saudi Arabia reveal the whereabouts of the Qatari citizen and calling for his release.

The National Human Rights committee calls on the Saudi authorities to compensate the Qatari citizen Muhsin Al-Karbi for the harm suffered during his enforced disappearance.

The National Human Rights Committee also demands that the Saudi authorities release the Qatari student, Abdulaziz Saeed Abdullah, who has been arbitrarily detained in Saudi prisons since July 2018, without being brought to trial, and calls on UN agencies and international organizations to conduct extensive investigations into the gross and systematic violations and discriminatory measures against Qatari nationals by Saudi authorities.

The National Human Rights committee also calls on the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to take swift and effective actions to release the Qatari student arbitrarily detained by the Saudi authorities.

18 Dhul-Qadah 1440,
21 July 2019
Doha, Qatar

Al Marri:

The UN General Assembly resolution stressed the need to protect national institutions and their staff and not to reduce their budgets

During the process of accreditation of institutions, the sub-committee on Accreditation attaches the utmost importance to the mechanism for the formation of members and the process of their selection and dismissal

Rabat: 9 July 2019

The Minister of Justice of the Kingdom of Morocco, Hon. Mohamed Aujjar received Dr. Ali Bin Smaikh Marri, on the sidelines of the opening of the training workshop organized by the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions, and The National Human Rights Commission in Morocco on the accreditation of national institutions by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions during the period from 9 to 11 July. The meeting discussed ways of cooperation between the two sides in the fields of promotion and protection of human rights.

In his opening speech at the workshop, Dr. Ali bin Samikh Al Marri stressed the necessity of protecting the national institutions and their staff from any pressures related to reducing their financial budgets and interfering in their affairs and undermining their independence and neutrality, as well as not obstructing their work as per the Resolution of the Secretary General of the United Nations of 2017, which called for greater engagement with United Nations bodies and mechanisms and reaffirmed the need for national institutions, their members and staff not to face any form of retaliation or intimidation, Including political pressure, physical intimidation, harassment or undue budgetary constraints, as a result of activities undertaken in accordance with their respective mandates.

In his capacity as Secretary-General of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions, Dr. Ali Bin Smaikh stressed the importance of implementing procedures to ensure that the activities of NHRIs are carried out as planned and applications for accreditation are submitted to the Global Alliance in an effective manner, while addressing the challenges that face NHRIs in accordance with the Paris Principles and the observations of the sub-committee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance.

Al-Marri reviewed his experience on the subject of accreditation of NHRIs, based on his previous work as a member of the sub-committee on Accreditation and as the present Secretary General of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions and Chairman of the National Human Rights Committee in Qatar, stressing the importance of obtaining status A by NHRIs in recognition of their credibility and an opportunity to expand its participation in international and regional forums

Dr. Al Marri said: “What is more important than the accreditation itself is that the process of submitting applications to the sub- committee on Accreditation helps to assess the institution’s compliance with the Paris Principles. This constitutes an opportunity for NHRIs to conduct self-evaluation and then to hold its work accountable in order to improve its performance and to address any shortcomings in its performance. Preparation for accreditation also helps to identify the extent to which the criteria set out in the Paris Principles are implemented, particularly those relating to the composition, selection and dismissal process, stressing that through his experience as a member of the Accreditation Committee over four years, the issue of independence and impartiality in the selection of members was a priority for the Accreditation Committee. Al-Marri called for the workshop to focus on this aspect and benefit from the various experiences and exchange of information in this regard, noting that the implementation of the criteria for membership of national institutions in accordance with the recommendations of the Accreditation Committee is a matter that needs further discussion and lighting for national human rights institutions in the Arab region.

The International Accreditation Committee considers at least twenty criteria within the so-called Paris Principles, the most important of which are the Articles of association, requirements for Membership, Independence and Immunity, composition, Employment and Budget, and the application of the functions of the institutions in the Construction Law, as well as the role of institutions in encouraging governments to accede to international conventions and implement the recommendations of the treaty bodies and the mechanism of universal periodic review, as well as its role in disseminating the culture of human rights, the publication of substantive annual reports, and the issuance of press releases and press statements.

Al-Marri noted the importance of reviewing the accreditation of national institutions every five years as a practical evaluation tool for institutions to ensure that their efforts continue in the right direction. He said: “Through my experience as a member of the accreditation committee, I have noticed that working hard to implement the recommendations of the Accreditation Committee is itself a measure of the efficiency of the institution. The accreditation is a manifestation of the confidence of the Global Alliance.

It is noteworthy that the workshop came within the framework of increasing international, regional and national interest of countries in the establishment of national human rights institutions in accordance with the Paris Principles. The number of NHRIs around the world increased to a total of 124 institutions, of which 79 are accredited as “A”, five of them from the Arab region . This attention is attributed to the broad functions and powers that these institutions have assumed, which make them a central pillar of the national system for the protection and promotion of human rights.In order for these institutions to fulfill their role, they must meet the criteria of independence, impartiality and pluralism and must be empowered with sufficient human and financial resources to allow them to exercise their functions in all spheres